Anyone else concerned by the extremely low skill ceiling?

[DinahDemiurge]

I am just thinking back to 2.x and 3.x (and to an extent 4.x) content and I am worried about this trend...not only about the design of the extreme/savage encounters but more-so the job player skill ceilings. It seems to me that the difference between a poor to average skilled player compared to a skilled player is minuscule performance wise. There is no real incentive to actually master your job, since you can be really bad and still do 99% of content. Is this the design style going forward? If so, is anyone else concerned? Higher end content should require near-mastery of your job, shouldn't it? Or am I crazy?

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

You say that, but people still hit enrage in easy fights.

The skill floor has to be higher, otherwise it would put way too much pressure on those who know what they are doing to get through even basic dungeons. However, there is still enough room to allow the difference between someone playing at the lowest possible skill and one who has complete mastery.

No one is clearing ex and savage doing the bare minimum, unless the group is carrying them, and trust me, the group will know. It'll be a conscious decision to continue doing so as well.

[Billythepancake]

I'm not a fan of it, it has certainly made scholar so much more boring, but am I worried in a sense that it'll be bad for the game's life? No, making things more accessible is never a bad thing, and if launch is anything to go by, seems like it worked great financially. I am worried that, if they keep doubling down on their "let's keep making things easier" without adding any depth in return will kill my enjoyment of it, and I honestly don't want that.

It'd be nice if my job wasn't just "spam broil until you go numb" but apparently healers are too stupid for anything else, according to SE. I understand it's better to have a low skill floor to attract more casual players, but they seem to forget that they need to have something there for the more hardcore people, that isn't just Savage fight designs. I don't want to have to rely on Savage just to have something to do, I want something to do no matter the content I'm in.

I want to be see the changes to scholar next expansion and be so excited I can't wait to play it, but if this is anything to go by, I'm sure they'll end up dumbing things down even further because they want more people in the game. =/

[DinahDemiurge]

SNIP =/

I think we think alike on it. I miss scholar in 2.x and 3.x It was so much fun to play. I love FFXIV but at this rate I am really really worried.

[DinahDemiurge]

***deleted due to changing opinion after posting*

[HyoMinPark]

I miss the complexity and decision making that went into 4.x BRD. Now the job just feels really bland by comparison. There’s no more considering when and where to double IJ, no more tracking crit buffs to manipulate your Repertoire, no more 2-stack PP gains over the standard 3-stack PP under certain conditions. Even just having the Straight Shot buff I miss—that was outright removed because the developers said some players struggled to press a button every 30 seconds. I miss Foe’s and how it could be paired with/manipulated with Refresh....

BRD received nothing to make up for what it lost, either. Apex Arrow is the worst skill imaginable—I’ve yet to see a BRD actually say they like it. And the sad thing is, is that it really had potential if the starting potency had been 500 at 20 gauge that scaled higher with increased gauge. But, nope. A “press at 100 gauge and no sooner” button is what we ended up with. (And one that has a range of 15y despite our base range being 25y because reasons.)

I don’t think the developers considered the impact simplification could have on those who enjoyed rewarding complexity.

[shibeouya]

There is no real incentive to actually master your job, since you can be really bad and still do 99% of content.

Gating a lot of content behind skill is exactly what caused so many MMOs to go poof. FF is and has always been casual friendly and this is where most of their revenue comes from. Changing that philosophy would be a sure way to kill the game.

[Dirwen]

Gating a lot of content behind skill is exactly what caused so many MMOs to go poof. FF is and has always been casual friendly and this is where most of their revenue comes from. Changing that philosophy would be a sure way to kill the game.

The few elitists will always think their opinion matters more than the majority of casuals. So few actually have savage and ultimate clears only proves the point. The thing that baffles me is PvP not many enjoy it but SE keeps forcing people into it by adding rewards to it constantly.

[JunseiKei]

The thing that baffles me is PvP not many enjoy it but SE keeps forcing people into it by adding rewards to it constantly.

It's a niche thing that people enjoy. The FFXIV team caters to niches; that's why we're getting "higher end crafting", why we have /gpose, perform, mini-games like mahjong, the Gold Saucer in general, ultimates, savage, Diadem, treasure maps, etc. There's a little bit of something to be had for everyone.

Also, the FFXIV team aren't forcing you into it. They're not holding a gun to your head saying 'do it now or die.' :v

[HyoMinPark]

The few elitists will always think their opinion matters more than the majority of casuals. So few actually have savage and ultimate clears only proves the point. The thing that baffles me is PvP not many enjoy it but SE keeps forcing people into it by adding rewards to it constantly.

On the other hand, it’s an equally elitist mindset to say that content and jobs need to be reduced to such a simplified state purely because “the majority of the playerbase is casual”. Casual players were still able to enjoy their content(s) of choice with higher-end content (sans Ultimate) being more challenging than it is now. Even the state of Extreme primals is laughable now: 13 deaths and still clearing before enrage for Innocence or Titania in minimum item level gear is kind of silly, to be honest. I miss the days of Sephirot EX... (even though Sophia EX is still my fav EX to date, and she was relatively easy).

This is a theme park game. I don’t see the problem with high-end content being more difficult/having a higher amount of skill needed to clear. The difficulty doesn’t negatively affect those who don’t actively pursue it, and it returns a sense of accomplishment and prestige to those who do.